The Warden
The Warden is one of the major deities on the planet of Sprin'Torel. It is believed by some that The Warden was once a fearsome guardian spirit who nurtured and protected the wilderness in the times before the rise of the gods. Others believe He was once a mortal who, after some great tragedy, was forced to go on a quest for redemption ultimately concluding with His ascension to godhood. Regardless of His origins, The Warden rules over the domain of nature, watching over the world and guarding the wilds against corruption and destruction. While some revere The Warden as the enigmatic guardian of the wilderness, others claim he maintains the boundaries of the material plane itself, and others still see Him as more of a boogeyman responsible for the mysterious disappearances and violent deaths of those who tread too deeply into the wilderness. All, however, see him as a manifestation of the primal essence of the world, in all its grace and savagery. Worshipers The Warden's followers come in many forms, and show their reverence in sometimes very different ways. Many, especially those of whom are druids, stay as close to nature as possible and spend their lives nurturing and defending it as some legends say The Warden once did. Some followers of The Warden, primarily among His clerics, stray further from nature in order to defend the wilds by way of word and pen, most often attempting to establish and enforce legal edicts banning or restricting expansion into unclaimed wilderness. A rare few, most often those talented with the transmutive elements druidic magic, spend their lives in the shadows watching over all parts of the world and gathering information, acting only when necessary to preserve the balance. All followers of The Warden, however, value the sanctity of the natural world above all else. Sometimes this is to the exclusion of all else, most commonly civilization, although it is not uncommon for His worshipers to pursue a balance between nature and civilization, especially among those who join the Allies of the Forestmaster. Clerics The Warden does not have as many clerics as many of the other gods, although He is followed by the vast majority of druids who choose to worship any gods at all. Given their typically reclusive natures, it is difficult to tell just how many druids there are, let alone how many specifically worship The Warden. While the Clerics who choose to operate within society are typically more social than those who refuse to leave the wilderness, they are still extremely reclusive, very rarely associating with people more than they need to. Unfortunately, little is known of The Warden's followers who stay outside of society, as rumours of dark rituals and sacrifice scare away even the bravest of anthropologists and explorers. Orders ; Staghelms : This relatively small but elite group of paladins and clerics sees itself as an extension of The Warden's will, and some believe it to have even been founded by the mysterious god. Easily recognized by their distinctive horned helms, they dedicate themselves to the preservation of the delicate balance between nature and civilization. There are followers of The Warden who believe the Staghelms to be failing in their duties to the god they claim to follow by often allowing civilization to encroach on nature. However, Staghelms tend to either respond that all lives, even those trapped within city walls, are equally parts of nature, maintain that a conflict between nature and civilization would merely end in the ruin of all, or even argue that The Warden Himself learned to appreciate, or at least tolerate, civilization during His journey to godhood. The order also receives some criticism for practicing methods rooted in civilization rather than in nature itself, although as all Staghelms are aware, and few other followers of The Warden are willing to admit, sometimes the best way to combat a foe is by using their own weapons against them. In addition, given the relative familiarity of their methods to those living in civilization, they tend to be seen in a more favourable light than those who never leave their woodlands. While not as familiar as the Gold Helms, and despite their common friction with other respected orders and factions, Staghelms see themselves as preservers of balance and good who look out for the interests of all living things, who cannot be corrupted with blackmail or bribes. ; The Order of the Burgeoning Vale : The members of this rather unique order spend their lives encouraging the growth, and often overgrowth, of all natural flora. While in one respect this brings their practices very close to those of Qridite's followers, in another it makes them nearly polar opposites. Rather than growing crops for the sake of harvesting them, they see the nourishing of the natural world an end in itself, and often specifically cultivate dangerous plants and brambles to keep people away from the places they choose to nurture. While some see this as a noble goal, many see them more as a nuisance ranging from benign to malevolent, with many of Qridite's followers even arguing that this order is not even successfully nourishing the plants they affect since the overgrowth often results in as much death as life when the vines and trees begin to choke out the more fragile flora. It is said that the trees themselves pass down the traditions of this order, but nothing has been proven or documented regarding that. ; The Scions of the Darkwood : Many of those who believe these more common legends concerning The Warden's path to godhood believe it to have began in an ancient forest known only as the Darkwood. While most believe the Darkwood to be no more than a myth, most likely a metaphor for the primal world which existed before the arrival of the gods, the Scions believe that it was, and perhaps still is, actually a specific forest somewhere out in the world. While no one has yet been able to locate it, if it indeed exists at all, the Scions make it their mission to locate this sacred grove of legend. The Scions make up the smallest order of The Warden, but are as feared as the hidden druids who supposedly worship The Warden using darker rituals. Rites As with all other religions, the worship of The Warden involves many rituals and rites. Many of these involve prayers for the nourishment of land, although unlike those made to Qridite, these tend to result in what most would call overgrowth, causing masses of vines and thorns to erupt from the ground and growing trees to unmanageable proportions. Below is an example of a prayer to The Warden: "Our vigilant Warden, keeper of the wilds, nurturer of our kin, we invoke you to preserve the sanctity of these woods from those who would defile it; may their misused bodies become food for the beasts, drink for the plants, and wards against future trespasses; we call upon your tooth, your claw, and your horn to rend their flesh and return it to the land whence it came."